Guatemala Part 5: Going with the Flow
Expeditions don't always go as planned.
Or maybe that only happens to me on my expeditions.
In my many years of writing about the outdoors, I’ve had plans changed and canceled, seen hosts get ill, bail, or ghost me, and had laws that weren't usually enforced - enforced on me. Because of this and many, many other instances, I've learned to adapt while on assignment. I've learned to go with the flow. Such was the case in Guatemala.
As originally envisioned, I was supposed to do some deep-sea fishing on the coast, stay with and write about the estate / restaurant Tul Y Sol, then do some freshwater fishing on Lake Atitlán. For one reason or another, this itinerary changed about a week later to my visiting Tul Y Sol, fishing the lake, hiking several volcanoes, then spending a day in the city of Antigua. This changed yet again once I was in country once I learned that Lake Atitlán held no fish thanks to unregulated fishing and pollution and canceled my hikes due to my getting a sinus infection and hacking cough. This change presented the all too real hardship that I'd be forced to spend the last few days of my time in Antigua lounging by the pool during the day and eating at its finest restaurants during the evening.
That was a change I could live with.
My fiancé Cheryl and I spent our time at Aqua Antigua, a private pool the features incredibly posh deck side cabanas, delicious chef-prepared snacks, and ice-cold beer and cocktails. Not only that, but they allowed cigar smoking as well. Aqua Antigua was so nice of facility that we spent every day there except Friday. On that day we visited The Spa at Casa Santo Domingo for a day of utter relation. Reservations for such were made in advance as Cheryl and I thought we'd be in need of a massage after our two day hike up Guatemala's famous volcano Acatenango. Although we ended up ditching the volcano trip thanks to my aforementioned poor health, we kept the spa day. And that was a good thing because Casa Santo Domingo was one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever seen. Built on and integrated into the the ruins of the Convent of Santo Domingo, which was lost in the Santa Marta Earthquake of 1773, Casa Santo Domingo looks like something held over from the Latin American Colonial Period. Century old trees and semi-tropical gardens engulf and stand guard over multiple museums, art galleries, a chocolate shop, several 5-Star restaurants, and of course, a luxe spa. It was there that we got a couples massage, visited the steam room, and experienced treatment after treatment.
Cheryl’s and my nights were spent sampling some of Antiqua’s world-renown restaurants. We dined at Casa Escobar for steak and salmon, the Rainbow Café for Farm-to-Table, Almacen Troccoli for pizza, and to Pappy's BBQ for the best barbeque I’ve had outside of Texas. No, seriously. Plus they even had cans of Dr Pepper imported from the Lone Star State. We also sampled drinks at several bars and at El Zapote Brew Pub where we indulged in Guatemalan craft beers.
Come Saturday morning, Cheryl and I had literally had our fill of Antigua. We had eaten and drank all she’d offered, seen all she had presented, and interacted with some friendly and very interesting people. Our hired guide Carlos from Heart of Travel picked us up and ferried us through the spaghetti-bowl that is the highway system of Guatemala and to the airport. We bid goodbye to our indispensable guide and to a warm and inviting country and made our way back to the states. And while we made it back safely and relatively on time, our luggage did not. We got it a little worse for wear a few days later.
No, things don’t always go as planned. But if you go with the flow, things tend to work out for the best in the end.
Read Part one of my trip to Guatemala HERE
Read Part two of my trip to Guatemala HERE
Read Part three of my trip to Guatemala HERE
Read Part four of my trip to Guatemala HERE
This piece first appeared in the Fredericksburg Standard.
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